Because anything that is "old" isn't good enough. It has to look young to appeal to the consumer.

I am right with you though on DVD art being updated with crap that either has nothing to do with the film or making it look newer than it is. I also hate when they redesign art to make it look like something it is not.

oh man i hate when they do this shit. I cant think of any of the top of my head but ill take a look at my dvds later.

they should invest in double sided covers put the shit get fools to buy it cover on the outside and the nice for the collector/true fan of the movie cover on the inside.

Criterion did that for their Life Aquatic release (primarily because the DVD was initially released via them, as opposed to it being one of their usual special releases with one of their usual special covers). One side is the usual movie-poster style you'd expect:

While the reverse is something much more fitting (and the one I keep mine turned to):

"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

Hey let's try to make a crummy early 80s TV movie look like the next Lord of the Rings.

The hell??!!?!

I got that one in a bin and it was made in 82 and it is one of those TV movie of the week's that tries to make people think that a common product is going kill your kids. In this case they were trying to tell them that D&D would get their kids lost in a fantasy world and if a kid's D&D character died the kid would kill them self. They did a two part Adventures in Odyssey that had the same gist when I was a kid.

Look at this. The characters are off-model, they're too heavily airbrushed-looking and brightly colored, and the composition definitely leaves something to be desired. Plus, the logo obscures the only clue that might tell you something about the setting of the film.

Compare to the UK release:

See how much classier that is? The character is rendered well, in muted tones, you can see his face, and Big Ben looming in the background gives you an instant idea of where the movie takes place. I even like the font more (though I'll admit that's fairly subjective).

As an animation fan, I can tell you that sometimes looking at my DVD covers just makes me very, very sad. I mean, it's not like you're an animation company with access to hundreds of talented artists or anything. OH WAIT.